Cloth-holder.



N6. 748,131. PATENTED DEC. 29, 1903.;

L. s. WINTERBOIHAM.

CLOTH HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1902.

'NITED STATES E'atented December 29, 1903. l

PAT NT OFFICE.

CLOTH-HOLDER SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,131, dated December 29, 1903. Application filed November 21,1902. erial No. 132,215. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LYDIA S. WINTER- BOTHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Madison, county of Dane, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gloth-I-Iolde1's, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in cloth-holders.

[0 The object of my invention is to provide a form of device for holding cloth preparatory to stitching the same, whereby basting is greatly facilitated or dispensed with.

In the following description reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the same as it is applied and used for holding cloth, and Fig. 3 is a detail illustrating a form of construction whereby the length of the device may be increased or diminished.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

As shown in Fig. l, the device consists of a bar 1, having arms 2 and 3 projecting substantially at right angles thereto. The arms 2 and 3 are provided'with pins 5, which project on lines substantially parallel to the bar o 1 beyond the ends of said bar.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated an application of my invention to a hem. The cloth is first folded into the desired position and the tool then applied thereto, the pins of one end of 3 5 the tool being inserted through the cloth and the latter then stretched over the pins at the other end of the tool and caught thereby, as shown, whereupon the cloth may be stitched along the line 6. When the line of stitching 0 passes the end of the tool, the latter is removed and advanced along the hem to the nnstitched portion.

Where two pieces of cloth are to be united by stitching, they are lapped together in the desired position and the tool used in the same way as in the case of the hem, thus enabling me to dispense with the operation of pinbasting as well as with the operation of stitchbasting, unless the work is complicated. In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a form of construction in which the bar 1 is formed in sections 1 and 1 the section 1 being split, as shown at 7,whereby it may be readily clam ped upon the bar 1 by means of a clamping-collar 8 and set-screw 9. are not shown in Fig. 3, butit will be under stood that at one end they-are secured to an elbow of section 1, and at the other end they are secured to an elbow of section 1". Only the central portions of the two sections are shown in Fig. 3. With this construction the tool may be lengthened or shortened at pleasure, or, if desired, the pinsv may be first inserted and the bar then adjusted to stitch the cloth. When the bar 1 is formed integrally of a single piece, it is preferably formed of resilient material, so that it may be bent when inserting the pins, the resilience of the bar then serving'to stretch the cloth tightly between the points of engagement.

It will be observed that the cloth-engaging devices or pins 5 are in the same plane common to the bar 1 and the elbow-arms 2 and 3, but the bar 1 is oifset from the line of cloth engagement, so that it will not interfere with the operation of a sewing-machine or with the preliminary operation of basting. The construction is such that the'basting-stitches or even a sewing-machine stitch can be taken in the direct line of the tension, if desired, or in close proximity thereto, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

I am aware that cloth-stretching devices have been heretofore used in which stretching-bars were employed in the direct line of the tension, stays being inserted directly underneath the bars. My device is, however, designed for a different purpose, for the ac complishmen-t of which it is essential that access to the cloth or fabric should be unobo structed along the line of tension between the cloth-engaging pins.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- In a device of the described class, a resilient bar, elbowed at each end to form oifset arms; and pins secured to said arms and projecting beyond the bar ina plane common to the bar and arms and parallel with the bar,

The cloth-engaging pins 55 Q whereby said pins may be first inserted in the cloth at one end, and the bar bent to facilitate the insertion of the pins at the other end, the resilience of the bar serving to enter the last-mentioned pins and stretch and hold the 010th in position between the points of engagement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LYDIA s. WINTERBOTHAM.

Witnesses:

MARY KINGSTON, L. B. MURPHY. 

